MICHIGAN MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FAILING TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER

(HOUSTON) - Robert Earl Johnson, 44, has been sentenced to prison for failing to register as a sex offender after moving to Texas, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison sentenced Johnson to 18 months in federal prison to be followed by a 20-year-term of supervised release today in federal court in Houston.

The indictment, returned Oct. 21, 2010, accused Johnson of failing to register as a sex offender after moving to the state of Texas. Johnson was convicted of criminal sexual conduct on a person on under 13 years of age in 1995 in Wayne County, Mich. Johnson was paroled in 2004, but later violated that parole and returned to custody. Discharged in 2007, he was required to notify the state of Michigan he was leaving the state, register wherever he chose to reside and to continue to update his address with the appropriate authorities as required by law. Records proved Johnson moved to Texas in 2008 but failed to register with the appropriate authorities.

Johnson has been in federal custody since his arrest by the United States Marshal Service on Oct. 25, 2010, where he will remain to serve his sentence pending transfer to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.

In July 2006, Congress established the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act to protect the public from sex offenders and offenders against children and in response to the vicious attacks by violent predators. This charge is brought under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) a sub-chapter of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Under SORNA persons previously convicted of certain sexual offenses are required to register and keep current, in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is an employee and where the offender is a student. For initial registration purposes only, a sex offender is also required to register in the jurisdiction in which convicted if such jurisdiction is different from the jurisdiction of residence.

The investigation of Johnson was conducted by the United States Marshals Service as part of Operation Guardian. This case was prosecuted by AUSA Sherri L. Zack.